American Rescue Plan: DUNS Number & SAM Registration

The System for Award Management (SAM) is a computer system accessed by the Internet managed by the U.S. Government. Entities must have an active registration in SAM to do business with the U.S. Government. An “entity” is the company, business, or organization registering in SAM. Each entity is represented by a nine-digit unique entity identifier, the Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS®) Number as issued by Dun & Bradstreet.

Only individuals who are authorized to represent a particular entity, or individuals representing themselves as an entity, may register an entity in SAM. Accessing or using SAM, or information contained therein, for any unauthorized or illegal purposes, may have civil and criminal penalties, and may negatively impact the status of the SAM registration maintained for the entity

DUNS Number

The federal government uses the DUNS number to track how federal money is allocated. A DUNS number is required prior to registering with the SAM database. Registering for a DUNS number is free of charge.

You can lookup your municipality’s DUNS number or use this spreadsheet for an excel list of known DUNS numbers.

If an entity does not have a valid DUNS number, you can request a DUNS number online or by calling 1-866-705-5711.

SAM Registration

All Federal financial assistance recipients must register on SAM.gov and renew their SAM registration annually to maintain an active status to be eligible to receive Federal financial assistance. There is no charge to register or maintain your entity SAM registration. Registrations must be updated every 12 months to remain active

If an entity does not have an active SAM registration, please visit, SAM.gov to begin the entity registration or renewal process. Please note that SAM registration can take up to three weeks; delay in registering in SAM could impact timely payment of funds. The Treasury has provided an Overview of SAM.gov.

A template for a SAM application and information on becoming your entity’s SAM administrator are available.